In the last few days, the top of the world has grabbed our attention. Different media are busy reporting the records set on Everest. On May 19, when 150 people successfully scaled the top on a single day, around half-a-dozen records (or maybe more) were set within the four hours from seven to eleven in the morning. A few became the ‘first’ ones from their country to conquer Mt Everest. An old man of eighty years became the oldest one to have this courage; a girl from India made the record of being the first female amputee to reach the height of 8848 meters, and another man, from our own country—Nepal—who had lost both his hands at a small age, also proudly registered his name on the pages of Everest’s history. This list goes on, with some more records set that week. [break]
Personally, I am happy for all these people who represented separate groups and became role models for their own communities. However, my concern is the fading glory of Mt Everest, a consequence of the increasing population of Everest conquerors. Glaciers are melting faster than they are being replenished by snow and ice. I hear the cry of mother earth when Everest is being ravaged.
explorehimalaya.com
Increasing crowd
Figures show a rapid increase in the number of climbers since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay created history in 1953. From 1990 to 2012, the number of people climbing the summit has increased almost eight folds. In 1990, only eighteen percent of seventy-two summiteers were successful; whereas in 2012, the number of total summiteers was 547 while the success rate was 56 percent. 2007 became the record breaking year with 633 climbers (which will be set off by this year’s 670 ascents).
Although the number 149 has been a concern to all, there has been a previous record. 169 climbers set foot on the summit in a single day on May 23, 2010. There were 219 fatalities recorded on Mount Everest, from the 1922 British Mount Everest Expedition to the end of 2010, a rate of 4.3 fatalities for every 100 summiteers. However, the rate of fatalities has decreased since 2000, with 1.4 fatalities for every 100 summiteers. Success rate in Everest expeditions has been increasing, not just because of more guides and better gear, but also due to the fall in the temperature and decrease in snow volume, decreasing the risk of accidents. By the end of the 2010 climbing season, there were 5,104 ascents to the summit by about 3,142 individuals, with 77 percent of these ascents being accomplished since 2000.
Melting snows and pollution.
Tons of plastic, tuna cans, empty oxygen cylinders, old tents, ropes, carcasses and other human wastes are spread all over the mountain. Up to 50 tons of rubbish is left by climbing tourists every year. With an increasing number of climbers, the quantity of untreated waste naturally upswings in quantity. The problem is severe in the villages along the trail from Lukla up to Everest Base Camp. It isn’t that no efforts have been made to solve the problem. Several cleanup projects are conducted by different organizations every once in a while. In 2001, an Asiatic Mountain Climbers’ Expedition picked up 56,000 beer bottles in its cleaning expedition. Recently, another project by Eco Himal, brought down almost 10 tons of hazardous trash from Everest. It has also introduced safe waste management techniques for local villages and tourists, and installed at least 15 waste treatment facilities. However, these projects are small compared to the gravity of the problem. Permanent management techniques are required to tackle the escalating issue.
As the world struggles with the critical challenge of global warming and climate change, Everest has also become a victim of this global problem. A recent study led by a Nepali researcher, Sudeep Thakuri, has revealed that the majority of mountain glaciers have shrunk by 30 percent and the snowline has moved upwards by 180 meters in the last five decades in the Everest region. The research titled “Glacier Response to Climate Trend and Climate Variability in Mt Everest Region (Nepal)” determined the extent of glacial change on Everest and the surrounding 1,148 square kilometers (713 square mile) Sagarmatha National Park by compiling satellite imagery and topographic maps, and reconstructing glacial history.
Researchers have suspected that the cause behind the decline of snow and ice is due to human-generated green house gases that has altered the global climate. However, they have not been able to establish a complete relationship between the changes in mountains and climate change. The report also mentions that because the glaciers are melting faster than they are being replenished by ice and snow, rocks and debris that were previously hidden deep under the ice are being revealed. They have increased by about 17 percent since the 1960s, with the ends of the glaciers retreating by an average of 400 meters since 1962. The research has also pointed out 0.6 degree Celsius increase in the temperature and decrease in precipitation by 100 millimeters during pre-monsoon and winter since 1992.
Save Everest
These records definitely give a clear picture of the cry of the mountains in the Himalayas—Mt Everest being the most significant one. While the government plans to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the first scaling of Mt Everest with the motive of welcoming more climbers, these figures rather reflect a need of ban on Everest expedition for few years and celebrate ‘peace in Everest’ year. The year of ban on expeditions can also be utilized by cleaning and bringing down the corpses of ones who lost their lives there. Within a few years, Everest’s beauty will be restored. After all, why hurry to get to the top and murder the glory of the one and only Mt Everest?
The author is an enthusiast of climate change and environmental issues
prayash.koirala@gmail.com
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